Reader’s letters - Monday December 29, 2014

Parishoners from St Ignatius Catholic Church in Preston gathered in silent protest outside their church after Morning Mass to highlight their campaign to keep the church open.. PIC BY ROB LOCK'23-11-2014

No one appears to know the real issues, concerning the closure of St Ignatius Church, Preston.

This beautiful church, like others was built by the Jesuit Order. If I can remember correctly, St Ignatius church was handed over to the Secular Order of Priests, by the Jesuits Priests.

This is where I believe it started to go wrong. Also, do not forget, the Parish Church, what you now call the Minster, was also handed over to the Church of England after the Reformation many, many years ago, as a gesture of good will by the Jesuits. Yes the Jesuits built some beautiful churches.

None of us know the financial set-up behind it all, and is none of our business either.

The Catholics of the past, contributed to all that, many moons ago.

I for one, was born in St Ignatius Parish, 1948. I went to St Ignatius School, Church, until the street houses were knocked down, and everyone went to live on council estates.

I personally would like to thank the Jesuit Priest/nuns/teachers of that time, (most of whom will be dead now) for the teaching of the Roman Catholic Faith; something I have been told is not happening in the schools today.

How sad. England is still a missionary country, and maybe this is what is needed again, the Jesuit Order who were known to be staunch, and what’s more, they appeared to be educated men who knew their stuff.

I feel sorry for what is being born now, they do not stand a chance, they are not being baptised, lots do not even know, God the Father, his son Jesus, the holy spirit, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, I therefore believe the Missionary work must go on.

One last point, I do not know what order of priests the Bishop of Lancaster came from Michael Campbell, but taking a wild guess, I would say NOT from the Jesuit order of priests.

Saddened Prestonian

Plea for cheer from bishop

This is the season of “goodwill to all men and women, so bishop why don’t you redeem yourself in the in the opinion of the people of Preston and earn their respect and affection again by reopening St Ignatius Church.

A few years ago the “fit for purpose” letter from the Bishop was read out in Church and it said that St Ig’s would be a “Lighthouse Church” for the community. What has changed Bishop? First of all you axe Sunday night Mass, then you move the Polish congregation to another church, against their will, this was swiftly followed by the Keralan Community being moved, again against their will. After that, you said that we could only have one Mass on a Sunday at 9.30am with no funerals, weddings or confirmations.

The church is structurally sound, there is no shortage of priests, as we now have two churches and three priests, whereas in most places, one priest has to cover two or even three parishes. We have a steady congregation of 130 every week, so come on bishop, tell us the real reason you closed St Ignatius Church. The people of Preston are most eager to know! There is no shame your Lordship in admitting you made an error of judgement, so regain your popularity and give joy to the citizens of Preston in this season by giving us back our beloved church.

Ignatian

Thank you for your kindness

On December 20 my wife and I were taking part in a bucket collection, organised by the Rotary Club, at the Deepdale Retail Park. When a kind lady got out of her car and brought some hot drinks for the collectors, she said we all looked cold and she thought that we could do with a hot drink to warm us up. Would you please print this letter as our thanks for her very kind gesture and the generous donation.

George and Alwyn, Hutton

Faith restored in strangers

Just a quick note to try to trace a truly honest person. On the November 28 my sister travelling from Barrow-in-Furness to a concert in Llandudno called in to Morrisons in Preston docklands for fuel.

While leaving the kiosk unfortunately she slipped on the kerb and fell, breaking her glasses and covering herself with oil etc.

She quickly got to her feet and continued to Penwortham to collect our other sister. On arrival at Llandudno she realised her purse was missing along with a large amount of cash and cards she tried to retrace her tracks and rang the garage, amazingly they told her the purse and contents had been handed in.

On behalf of my sister I would like to thank this person and wish them a happy new year. As far as I am concerned they put the P back in Proud Preston.

Mike O’Neill, Lostock Hall

Better care and dignity needed

I work in a large busy cafe north of Preston. During one busy day at the beginning of December we had a large group of elderly disabled people visiting with care staff supervision. As they arrived I was aware of an increasingly strong unpleasant stale urine/ammonia odour, it caught the back of your throat as you breathed until your nasal senses adjusted a little.

With my previous experience of working in a care environment, I immediately identified an obvious neglect in personal care for these vulnerable people, rather than just the odd person with an unfortunate incontinence problem? If more care and preparation had been made by staff to ensure each person was dressed in freshly laundered clothes and recently bathed for their Christmas outing then any ‘unpreventable’ odour would have been much less.

Sadly, when you are short staffed working in a care environment you are pressured to ‘cut corners’ and you can become immune to the unpleasant bodily smells and detached from people you should be fully caring for? I resigned from several employments of this nature in the past, because I was so upset by the lack of real care. Eventually I opted for a complete career change. This points to a real need for a ‘Big Shake Up’ in care for disabled, elderly and vulnerable people.